Archive for the ‘Shelby GT500’ tag

The last 2014 model year Ford Shelby GT500 convertible netted $500,000 to benefit the Brain Injury Association of America last weekend at Barrett-Jackson’s Hot August Nights Auction.

Ford donated the proceeds from the sale of the milestone car on behalf of one of BIAA’s biggest advocates, Page Jones, son of racing legend Parnelli Jones. Page suffered severe permanent brain injuries in a crash while competing in a USAC sprint car race on September 24, 1994, in Rossburg, Ohio. He clung to life for three days after the accident and slowly came out of a coma, but was unable to walk or communicate. After years of therapy and an amazing drive to live a normal life again, Jones is able to speak clearly, walk, drive a car and work. Today he is married with a family of his own.

“It’s my 80th birthday, and I can’t imagine a better present,” said Parnelli Jones. “We worked hard to help Page recover from his injury, but we couldn’t have done it alone. We received help from the BIAA, and this funding will aid so many others who have suffered from similar injuries.”

The winning bidder at Barrett-Jackson’s Reno sale, Don Damon of Great Bend, Kansas, will be able to select any color combination available from Ford for his new convertible, and Parnelli Jones will sign the Shelby in appreciation for the BIAA donation. The car is scheduled to be delivered to Damon by year’s end.

“We at the BIAA are overcome with gratitude,” said Susan H. Connors, president and CEO of the BIAA. “This Ford Shelby GT500 sale provides vital funding for research, treatment and education to help the 3.5 million Americans who suffer from traumatic brain injuries. It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with Ford, Barrett-Jackson, Parnelli and Page.”

The Shelby topped the list of high sales at Barrett-Jackson’s inaugural Hot August Nights Auction at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. Rounding out the top five were a 1963 Corvette convertible that sold for $192,000; a 1950 Jaguar XK120 that sold for $178,200; a 1968 Shelby GT500E continuation car that sold for $165,000 and a 1957 Corvette that sold for $148,500.

For full results from the Hot August Nights sale, visit Barrett-Jackson.com, and for an excerpt from the upcoming documentary film Godspeed: The Story of Page Jones, which summarizes Page’s rehabilitation, visit GodSpeedPJ.com.

* Scarlett Gurr of Surrey, UK, is one lucky kid. As the Metro reported earlier this week, her father, Stuart, scratchbuilt a half-scale 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO for her to drive around in, possibly in the Little Big Man race at Le Mans this summer.

* In 1991, Mazda engineers built a fully functional three-wheeler that fit in a suitcase. Because. As The Petrol Stop pointed out, ironically, the vehicle lacks luggage space…

* Just swapping a modern Shelby GT500′s V-8 into a Fox-body Mustang wasn’t enough for Jason Hall. Instead, he swapped the entire underbody, drivetrain, and interior into his coupe and kept it looking only mildly modified to the casual observer. Street Legal TV has the story.

The ultimate intermediate – that’s the ideal way to describe Ford’s fearsome 427 Fairlane! Flip open the June 2013 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines for the lowdown on this competition-pedigreed steed.

But wait! There’s more!

From a buyer’s guide on the stylish 1961 Chrysler 300G to a look inside the King’s Petty Enterprises compound, there’s something for everyone in this issue. We even take a brand-new Shelby GT500 supercar for a test – not on the track, but around town, figuring out if you really could make this potent performer your primary driver. All this, plus the usual Muscle Machines roundup of modified mayhem, weekend warriors, technical tips and tricks, vintage racing, and more.

As is tradition in the collector-car world, a quarter century typically marks a vehicle’s transition from “used” to “classic,” so for a look back at the Class of 2013, that is, the cars turning 25 years old this year, let’s dig up some old photos we took at that year’s New York International Auto Show.

We’ll start off with the Shelby GT500 above, one of the highlights from the revived pony car wars of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Billed as the most powerful production V-8, the supercharged 5.8-liter aluminum-block dual overhead-camshaft engine was initially expected to put out just 650hp, but later SAE testing pegged it at 662 horsepower and 631 pound-feet. Backed by a Tremec 6060 six-speed manual transmission and a carbon-fiber driveshaft, the GT500, which Ford introduced for the 2013 model year, was reportedly good for a 3.5-second 0-60, 11.6 seconds in the quarter mile, and more than 200 MPH top speed.

Of course, the GT500 started at about $54,000 and got about 15 MPG (city, 24 highway) at a time when Americans were still recovering from the Great Recession of 2008, so Ford also had a more economical sporty car, the Ford Focus ST. The successor to the much-lauded SVT Focus, the ST also relied on boost – in this case a turbocharger – to pump more ponies from its engine: 252 horsepower and 270 pound-feet from the EcoBoost four-cylinder, reined in with a Torque Vectoring Control system. Also like the GT500, the ST came only with a six-speed manual transmission, but unlike the GT500, the ST started at about $24,000 and returned 23 MPG (in the city, 32 on the highway).

The GT500′s main competition was, of course, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1, which borrowed the 580hp supercharged 6.2-liter LSA V-8 from the Cadillac CTS-V, tweaked a little to fit the fifth-generation retro Camaro. Introduced in 2012, the ZL-1 offered both the Tremec 6060 six-speed manual and the Hydra-Matic 6L90 six-speed automatic transmission, which featured a manual mode. Both manual and automatic versions ran the quarter-mile in 11.9 seconds, but Chevrolet made much ado about the ZL-1′s Nürburgring lap time of 7 minutes, 41.27 seconds, about on par with the Porsche 911 Turbo S.

The Richard Petty Driving Experience is offering a new program for muscle car enthusiasts that allows them to put three of the latest and greatest American performance cars through their paces.

The American Muscle Car Challenge will be offered at both the Charlotte Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway throughout this summer. Each participant (for $199 and a $25 driver release fee) will be able to test drive a new Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1, a Shelby GT500 and a Dodge Challenger SRT8. Drivers will be putting each of the cars through their paces in four different driving situations: acceleration, braking efficiency, cornering capability and top speed over a set distance. Instructors will help participants achieve maximum performance from the three cars, with helpful tips on controlling these cars and honing driver’s skills in each regiment. The course will be laid out with an F-1 style starting line, braking distance markers, and digital displays showing elapsed time and speed. Every driver will get one drive-through on the course before taking three passes, one in each of the three cars.

Which car will come out on top? The 662hp 5.8-liter supercharged Shelby, the 470hp 6.4-liter Challenger or the 580hp 6.2-liter supercharged Camaro? Who cares! Getting an opportunity to drive these cars on a race course is well worth the price of entry.

When noted collector Ron Pratte consigned his Tucker #1043 at this past weekend’s Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, there was speculation that it could achieve a new world record for the famed make. Tucked within the auction company’s 5000 Series, or best-of-the-best, the Tucker didn’t just surpass the old record of $1,127,500, it completely smashed it with a final tally of $2.915 million.

Accordingly, the Tucker community is brimming with excitement, according to Mike Schutta of the Tucker Historical Foundation.

My E-mail has not stopped since Saturday. The price was pretty amazing. This sale changes everything with the Tucker. It marks the end of the hopes of many wanna-be Tucker owners. The price of a Tucker is now out of their range. It also will bring in a new group of buyers that only buy the very best. There are only 47 cars left and I believe as many as 30 owners will now have to take a look at their Tucker and ask do they want to continue to own it or would they rather be living on a beach in Maui. Remember, there is still a guy out there that was bidding against the winner of this auction and was willing to pay over 2.8 million to own a Tucker. I know several owners that will take that in a heartbeat.

Final hammer price on the Tucker was $2.65 million. A 10 percent buyer’s premium brought the total sale price to $2.915 million, making it the top seller at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale event.

As for the rest of the Ron Pratte-consigned cars discussed earlier, they all hit the sold column. The 1947 Bentley Mark VI with coachwork by Franay was second to the Tucker during Barrett-Jackson’s week-long sale, with a total sale price of $2,750,000. Another $225,500 traded hands for Pratte’s 1957 De Soto Adventurer convertible, while his pair of 2007 Shelby Mustangs (coupe and convertible) sold for $90,750.

The big Scottsdale auction week is finally here, now with six companies set to to drop the hammer on literally thousands of collector cars in a mere handful of days. In typical fashion, Barrett-Jackson was the first to usher cars through the stage lights, and it’s here where we’ve been alerted to the probable sale of this 1948 Tucker (chassis #1043) currently owned by none other than noted Barrett-Jackson attendee and enthusiastic car collector Ron Pratte.

Specific details about the Tucker are lacking, other than mention of its restoration, on Barrett-Jackson’s auction description. And we use the phrase “probable sale” simply because unlike most of the lots at B-J, the Tucker is listed as having an undisclosed reserve. That said, Mike Schutta of the Tucker Historical Foundation, provided more insight.

This car is very nice and most Tucker fans are keeping a close eye on this auction to see if it will set a new record price for a Tucker. The current record is $1,127,500 paid for Tucker #1045 about 18 months ago. This Tucker is in much better condition.

An interesting tidbit is that Tucker #1043 was used as part of an advertising scheme for a golf driving range in a western suburb of Chicago back in the ’50s. It was painted Tropical Rose and Snowshoe White to match the driving range buildings.

While surfing through the Barrett-Jackson website for more information on the Tucker, we stumbled upon four other Ron Pratte-owned vehicles that will also be offered at Westworld during the weekend, beginning with the car pictured above: the 1947 Bentley Mark VI with coachwork by Franay. The Bentley was last offered for sale by Barrett-Jackson – at no reserve – at their 2006 Palm Beach auction, where the hammer fell at $1,728,000 (including buyer’s premium). At that sale, details of the Bentley were as follows:

4.5 Liter Inline 6 with a four-speed. Coachbuilt by Franay. Magnificent restoration to Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance winning standards. This is the first major winning Concours d’Elegance car after WWII. Winning the first two major Concours in 1948, back-to-back, on the 12th of June at Enghien and the 17th of June at Bois de Boulogne. Mr. Gudol, the original owner and visionary of the Franay, was an industrialist whose sole purpose was to prove to the world that France was not only back from the rigors of war, but ready to reassert its dominance of haute couture and automotive design elegance. The awards the Franay has won over the decades is proof of his timeless vision. Mr. Gudol, in his wisdom, continued to enhance and advance the performance capacity and design elements of the Franay to push the envelope of an ever improving competitive edge in Concours d’Elegance competition. Mr. Gary Wales, who has shepherded the Franay through over 50 major awards and honors since 1990, has scaled back the number of public appearances so that the car is currently eligible for any and all Concours d’Elegance events.

Like the Tucker, the Franay Bentley touts an undisclosed reserve.

Then there’s Pratte’s 1957 De Soto Adventurer convertible, again with an undisclosed reserve. Oft-repeated generic De Soto history aside, specific details provided by Barrett-Jackson state:

Powered by the famous 345/345hp Hemi V-8 with dual quads, an automatic transmission, push-button shifter on dash, and independent torsion bar front suspension. With the division’s top Hemi V-8 under the hood, the Adventurer was an early muscle car with a set of the most aesthetically pleasing tail fins ever seen on virtually any car.

The only two cars listed by Pratte without a reserve are this pair of 2007 Shelby GT500s, which are to be sold as a pair. Details per the auction site are identical for both Shelbys:

In January 2006 Ron Pratte bought the Ford Motor Company’s newest car, a 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 VIN 00001 that benefited Carroll Shelby’s Children’s Foundation. In the past, Ford reserved the first fifty cars produced for Ford family members and senior executives or by other people on a selective list. Ford was so grateful to Ron for his generosity, they offered him the opportunity to buy two more, VIN 00002 and VIN 00005. While Ron is keeping VIN 00001, he is selling the orange Coupe and matching convertible as a pair. The successful bidder will get both cars for one price. These cars are special in other ways as well, as part of the purchase of VIN 00001 was a trip to the Flat Rock assembly plant where these legendary cars are manufactured. At the end of the tour of the assembly plant, Ron was presented with the keys to VIN 00001, VIN 00002 and VIN 00005 by Carroll Shelby and Carroll autographed all three cars for Ron. Along with his cars were three other 2007 Shelby GT 5000′s, for Carroll Shelby, Steve Davis and Gary Bennett. Ron then threw Ford a curve and said he didn’t want any of these cars shipped by rail to the owners, he wanted them trucked, enclosed, to his facility in Chandler, Arizona, bypassing the traditional dealer delivery and inspections. All of the cars, including Carroll’s personal GT 500, were delivered to the respective owner this way. This is a unique opportunity to own two pieces of Shelby and Ford history.

Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction started Sunday and will run through this weekend. For more information, visit Barrett-Jackson.com.

Every year it seems as though there are several chances to win a vintage vehicle, muscle cars included. Some are more notable than others, and they are dispersed when the contest is over. But imagine winning a muscle car when it was new.

Thumbing through my collection of vintage automobile magazines, my eyes caught a few contests in the late Sixties. Coca-Cola was handing out six 1969 Buick GS 400 Sport Coupes; DuPont/Zerex offered the chance to win one of five 1968 Firebirds; Mohawk Rubber Company was handing out a 1968 Shelby G.T. 500. I know I’ve seen a couple other similar deals, including a GTO.

Anyone in Hemmings Nation try their hand at one of these, or better yet, did you win (and can you prove it)?

Designer/artist Jim Gerdom has been busy this year. Recently, he released limited prints of his renditions of a 2007 Shelby GT and 2008 Shelby GT500 KR. Now he’s offering copies of his latest artistic creations: a white 2007 Shelby GT500 (order #DF-1221) and a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 (order #DF-1229) in a stunning black with red stripe combination. Both are available in the new 10 x 18-inch format, but are limited to just 250 prints each. These prints are individually signed and numbered, costing $40 each plus $5 shipping.

Centerforce has developed a clutch kit for the 5.4-liter supercharged Shelby GT 500 that converts the stock twin-disc arrangement to a single disc.
photo courtesy Centerforce

Most enthusiasts never thought the day would come when a Shelby Mustang could be purchased new off the showroom floor again, never mind that said ’Stang would have 500 horsepower.

Now that the day has arrived, hardcore hot rodders are discovering that the stock twin-disc clutch has its limits, and that the problem is quickly exacerbated by further power-boosting modifications. In response, Centerforce has developed a clutch kit for the 5.4-liter supercharged Shelby that converts the stock twin-disc arrangement to a single disc. The single-disc assembly is said to be more reliable and boasts a higher holding capacity, particularly when used in conjunction with the corresponding Centerforce flywheel, as the company intends.

The new clutch kit is part of Centerforce’s DFX line, which it explains is “engineered for competition standards of quality and craftsmanship.” The primary benefit of the DFX line is race-inspired clutch performance in a package that retains excellent street driveability. For more details, other DFX applications, or to see the rest of the Centerforce line, go to centerforce.com.

(This post originally appeared in the July 12, 2007, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)